


You Can't Trust Anybody Anymore

by beachtowel



Series: "And I would've gotten away with it" [4]
Category: DCU
Genre: Gen, slight murder mention, slight suicide mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-22 21:25:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11975325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beachtowel/pseuds/beachtowel
Summary: The planning starts and it is verified that yes, family group chats are still the worst.





	You Can't Trust Anybody Anymore

Over-secured phones were buzzing all over Gotham with notifications.

 

 **Bruce** : Absolutely not. Think of something else to do.

  **Tim** : Why not??

 **Damian** : Father, reconsider. 

 **Kate** : Noooo! I can’t make it!

 **Duke** : what's that, sounds terrible but in a cool way

 **Damian** : For our happiness.

 **Barb** : I’m game! What time?

 **Tim:** @Duke, it will be

 **Dick** : Lets say 6! :)

 **Bruce** : I said no.

[Stephanie is typing…]

 

-

(Earlier that day) 

 

Bruce knew before he had un-muted the family group chat he was going to regret this decision. But he didn't want to set the example and use their other lines for non-urgent means, so this was realistically his most efficient option to communicate with all of them instantly.

 He had skipped through the 1,995 unread messages and went straight to the end. He managed to get a glimpse of a picture that he could only describe as a surprised white lemur-cat hybrid sent from Stephanie. It had a caption that read “Since when do we not share ice pops?”

So that was the commotion Bruce heard between Damian and Stephanie through comms last night.

 He started out the message asking his bat-family if any of them would be available on September 1st. He considered keeping it a small gathering for his adopted kids, but he was sure he would feel the wrath of the others if he didn’t extend the invitation to the informal event. He realized it was a lot of people, but if there was one thing Bruce found comfort in, was that at least Diana would not be intimidated by the situation.

Tim responded with a “for anything in particular?” and Bruce wrote back “Leisure.”

 After about five minutes, Duke said he was available. No one else responded for a while.

 Bruce noticed how Duke, being the latest member to their vigilante family, always tried to make himself available to any sort of event, big or small. He moved like a butterfly, bouncing from bat-ally to bat-ally, asking for help in training and any question that popped up in his head. He stayed up late with Tim in the cave to read old case files, and trained with Cass and Damian on techniques. When Bruce allowed, he shadowed Dick. In all that, Duke was driven by youthful ambition, constantly trying to take in information. As a mentor and guardian, Bruce appreciated and admired all of these qualities in Duke.

 Bruce knew that it was not probable that everyone in the group chat had the time to check their phones yet, but he knew at least some more than Duke had to have read them. After half an hour of no other incoming texts, Bruce had sent out another message.

 **Bruce:** Let me know if this doesn’t work for anyone else. I was hoping to invite Diana to our home on this day. But if Duke will be the only one available, then the 3 of us can plan something on our own.

 Bruce’s phone practically started hovering from all the incoming messages that came in within the next minute.

 Bruce sipped his herbal tea with a smirk as he was condemned by the first wave of texters for leaving Diana’s name out of his first message. They should’ve wanted to spend time with him anyway.

 After a lot of back and forth on that, Bruce explained to them that Diana agreed to take the day to hang with him and his family. Then, he asked them if there was anything in particular they wanted to do with her company.

 Damian requested a tour of her home island. Stephanie wanted to train with war weapons “from someone who actually knows what they're doing.” Duke suggested a scrimmage and Tim said they should take her to Brazilian Steakhouse.

 Bruce tried not to shoot down all of their ideas directly, but he found most of them to be more or less improvable.

 **Bruce** : If we do a dinner, we can have an elegant one at Las Palmas. But perhaps maybe something more private?

Bruce didn't want their presumed disastrous night to be in any tabloid magazine the next day.

 

[Dick is typing…]

 

Bruce let out a small sigh of relief; Dick was online. Bruce counted on Dick for so many innumerable things, but his help with the others have always been something that Bruce would never be able to repay.

 **Dick** : What if we have another quiet game night at the manor. :)

 Bruce took everything back, Dick was the worst of them all.

  **Bruce** : Absolutely not. Think of something else to do.

-

 

Bruce thought long and hard about pulling out the “I am your father, and what I say goes” card. What with their upbringing and unorthodox hobbies, he did his best to grant them their autonomy outside of duty. In the end, they had a response for every one of his objections, and they all swore they'd all be on their best behavior, so Bruce felt no choice but to agree to the forsaken “game night.”

  **Bruce** : Fine. But if something comes up then it'll just be cancelled, that much will be understood.

  **Dick** : Just relax Bruce, I'll take care of everything. :)

 He got a few more messages that said they understood and others that claimed he was trying to jinx the night.

 Later that night, Bruce was reminded he had to turn off the notifications when one last message came in for him.

 **Jason** : LISTEN, OLD MAN. DIANA PRINCE IS EVERYTHING. IF YOU DO ANYTHING TO SABOTAGE THE BLESSED DAY, I WILL MURDER EVERYONE IN THIS CITY AND THEN MYSELF.


End file.
